Skooma Cat's Decendants
by Sage A. Willow
Summary: K'rasha received an odd amulet from her grandmother as an inheritance. Her grandmother always wore it and K'rasha wondered about it's significance. Upon receiving it, she is determined to unlock it's secrets. But many more mysteries follow. (What genre should this story be? PM me with your suggestions.)
1. The Tradition Begins

An old Khajiit is lying in her bed with a young cub sitting next to her. The old cat's face is grey with age and her eyes are pale and weary. The cub is the opposite: a bright, youthful face and eyes as bright as the stars. But tonight her eyes do not sparkle, for she knows the old Khajiit's time is almost up. The old Khajiit wraps one frail paw around the amulet she wears on her neck and begins telling the cub a tale.

"This amulet was giving to me by my grandmother when she lied on her deathbed," the old Khajiit rasps. "Tonight I too will hand it down to you, K'rasha. And when you have a daughter or granddaughter, so shall you hand it down to them when it is your time."

"No, grandmother!" K'rasha cried out. "Papa said you'll pull through! You're going to be fine!"

"I know my time draws near," the old Khajiit continues. "As is tradition in our family, I will tell you the story of my amulet and by sunrise, it will be yours." K'rasha holds back tears and bites her tongue, for she mustn't object. "Now you know our ancestors hail from Elsweyr, but our grandparent's grandparents are from Bravil in Cyrodiil. Our most notable grandmother-ancestor was named S'fara." The old Khajiit coughs and K'rasha gives her a piece of a sweetroll baked with vampire dust.

"S'fara was a young, adventurous cat from Bravil," K'rasha's grandmother began. "She never turned away a chance at something new. When she heard of a strange island appearing in Niben Bay, she was one of the first to investigate. There was what looked like a strange door in the center of the island. Curious, she went in." The old Khajiit coughed and wheezed some more then sighed.

K'rasha gave her grandmother another piece of the sweetroll and said, "if you are too tired, you may finish the story later."

The old Khajiit wheezed, "No. The tradition must be done." K'rasha gives her grandmother some water and the old Khajiit continues. "S'fara exited the Strange Door and she was soon met by another Khajiit. What she was saying to him made no sense, but despite S'fara's condition, he fell in love as soon as he laid eyes on her. He thought her beautiful and wanted only to spend the rest of his life with her. He vowed that when he returns, he will return to her.

"S'fara was escorted back home by a new guard and there she remained in seclusion. A few months went by and there was a knock on her door. The other Khajiit she met on the strange island was there. There he professed his love to her. He said he cannot stay, but when it is time, they would be united again forever. He laid with her that night and when she awoke the next morning, she was alone. There was an amulet and a note on her bedside table." The old Khajiit reached into her pocket and pulled out an old, ragged piece of parchment. She read it aloud, "Wear this amulet until your final day. On that day, tell your daughter or granddaughter about us and instruct them to keep this tradition alive. This amulet will be theirs upon your passing. Do not be afraid, for I will be waiting for you and your kin." The old Khajiit places the note on her bedside table and turns back to K'rasha. "That very note was from S'fara's lover. Like I have already told you, this amulet will be yours by sunrise."

The old Khajiit wheezes and says faintly, "I am getting tired. Now I must rest." The old Khajiit closes her eyes and K'rasha quietly places the last of the sweetroll and water on her grandmothers table next to the note. She then leaves the room, closing the door behind her.


	2. Grandmother has gone

Morning came and K'rasha's mind went straight to her grandmother's wellbeing. She ran to her grandmother's room but was blocked by her father. "Did she pull through, father?" K'rasha asks with a minute sign of hope. Hanging his head solemnly, he tells her, "she didn't make it."

"No!" K'rasha wails loudly trying to push past him, "All she needed was rest! The sweetroll I baked for her was all the medicine she needed! She's just sleeping!" He holds her in a firm hug, and through his own tears, he tells her, "she isn't with us anymore. She's gone ahead of you. I am confident you'll see her again in your own time."

K'rasha stops fighting and hugs her father back, crying loudly. "She could've made it if she tried. She could've fought through it." K'rasha's cries of grief become in comprehensible as she buries her face in her father's chest, staining his shirt with her tears. Her father just holds her on the floor outside her grandmother's room.

* * *

That afternoon, hours after K'rasha received the news, she sits in her room. Earlier she finally was able to enter her grandmother's room. "Do not be afraid of what you find in there," her father told her. "As I told you, she isn't with us and had gone ahead." When K'rasha entered the room, her grandmother was gone. Truly gone. There was no body. There was only the parchment neatly folded on the bed and the amulet atop of it. A new piece of parchment was folded up next to it. K'rasha read the new note.

In her grandmother's elegant handwriting, it said:

* * *

My dearest granddaughter,

My time has come. My share of the tradition comes to a close. The doorway has opened for me and I leave you the amulet. Wear it at all times. Never part with it. It will tell you how much time you have. Use that time wisely. When your time too comes, pass on the tradition to your daughter or granddaughter. The amulet will lead you to the place you belong.

It all sounds like madness now, but it will become clearer as time goes on. I will wait for you.

Always,

L'kyra

* * *

K'rasha wears the amulet as she sits curled up on her bed. She doesn't understand. Where has her grandmother gone? She has been too weak to leave her bed for weeks. No one has broken in and father wouldn't have had her body moved without K'rasha being able to say goodbye first.

She grips the amulet tightly in her paw. _"It will tell you how much time you have."_ What does that even mean? She asked her father about it. He said it was only a tradition on the women's side of the family. He wasn't allowed to know.

By sunset, K'rasha finally decided what she was going to do. She was going to find out what this amulet meant. What this tradition was all about. Tomorrow, she will set out and find the answers she seeks. At that, she rested her head and fell into a quiet slumber.


End file.
